No, I think the discussion makes everyone aware of the situation, that it's being investigated, and that there probably isn't much to be done due to the specific circumstances. It also opens up a potential dialogue with regards to photography, model releases and the media at the event.

Also, I'd love for someone to explain to me how clicking on a link puts money in someone's pocket, and then tell me how much money someone might make if every regular poster here clicked on a link. I'm guessing that it's less than what I could recover in my sofa cushions.

It is all about Search engine optimization(SEO) the more incoming and outgoing links a site has the better search results there is a lot more to it such as keywords but in a nutshell that's it.
Then when you find the site because of good search engine results every click is worth actual money not as much as your couch cushion but it all adds up.
Any smart webmaster especially in a competitive market like porn wants relevant keywords and links on his site and leading to his site. And like it or not Burning Man is a relevant keyword for porn because enough searchers combine it with words such as nudity, topless etc.

Chai Guy wrote:I'd rather just look through my couch for any loose change when I get home.

Google, Amazon all have these new generation revenue generators for websites if you signed up they target the adverts to match your site so it would end up for ads for backpacking, maps etc.
The site is crawled by a robot/spider that decides what your site is about which causes funny results though on one 9-11 site they ended up getting ads for American airlines and I get ads for rightwing authors everytime I rip G.W. in a posting...

I really hate ads and I can't see why I need to put ads on something that I get for free anyway. Speaking of which, I wonder how in the hell they're able to provide that page to me for free without ads? huh?

Anyway, yesterday I was watching TV with my brother and a commercial came on for the new Posideon adventure movie. (For those that don't know, it's a movie about a cruise liner that flips upside down and sinks, i.e. it's a disaster movie).

case studies was created to discuss things on a case-by-case basis to gain a consensus and understanding on how to handle things, and this was a topic area to report commerce issues based on that understanding.

in practice it drifts all over because not that many people understand how its setup, and there is currently no way for new or simply uninformed people to gain that info and insight.

there is a fix to all of this but no-one has stepped foreward to spend the time doing it. i might after this years event. might.

My $0.02 is that it's commerce. The eplaya has historically been anti-commerce in keeping with the overall theme of the event. That anti-commerce approach if I recall correctly has also applied to fund raisers that posted on here.

If this particular fund raiser / defacto raffle is allowed to stay on the board what's to keep a group....hmmm...I'll pick on the Opulent Temple, what's to keep them from coming on here and soliciting funds to bring another Super-ego-star DJ to the playa? My take on this is that we say NO to this stuff. But I'm just one voice here, if the rest of you say it's ok then bring it on. But if it gets out of hand...and I think it will, I'll be keeping a short link handy to direct people back here and say it could have been different.

First of all, I didn't realize the crosspostings weren't ok. After what's his face said something, I went and looked in the FAQs and since couldn't find anything saying that, so I went ahead and finished putting it where I thought it was relevant... And while I read the agreement when signing up for the site, that was a few years ago and I don't remember what it said. Might be a good idea to repost it in the FAQs.

Second, it's clearly within bounds to promote a fundraiser, but I think the question here is my style of promoting it because it 'looks' commercial. I understand that this guy wants to protect the BM values, and that's great! But I also want to protect BM values and take offense at his harassing me with abusive language. But I digress...

So where IS the line in trying to cut through the clutter to promote a fundraiser... Everyone knows there are plenty of examples on ePlaya and in old JRS's where people are promoting events, listing admission prices, listing things you can buy at these events, selling tickets to a cruise at one point if I remember correctly, etc...

Is the line at listing a PayPal account? Is the line at doing something other than an event? Is the line offering something people desire out there? Is the line at trying to mock Publisher's Clearing House language? I can tell you one line we chose not to cross - and that's selling raffle tickets to have your water brought to the playa. We didn't want to encourage people getting for free something they should be bringing to survive.

Anyway, this is an interesting conversation, even if it's one that took me by surprise. And I hope that my fundraiser doesn't get pulled, because we really tried to do something that would be fun, useful for other far-away burners like ourselves, and be unique.

definately. unfortunately no one has updated that with relevant info, so i hope others keep that in mind when things like this happen rather than giving them a verbal body-slam.

deleting your crossposting was not personal, and i am glad you came here to discuss it. the commerce issue is a touchy one for many here, asking for handouts another, both happen frequently close to the event. not saying either one is aimed at you because i am not going to take a stand either way - thats for others to decide. i am just saying so people can understand what may be underlying issues.

So where IS the line in trying to cut through the clutter to promote a fundraiser... Everyone knows there are plenty of examples on ePlaya and in old JRS's where people are promoting events, listing admission prices, listing things you can buy at these events, selling tickets to a cruise at one point if I remember correctly, etc...

Unfortunately it seems to be happing with a frequency approaching exponential.

Where the OP asks for the location of the line I'd ask for the location of the wall.

Just as there is a forum for tickets, wouldn't a forum for on-playa theme camps fundraisers be appropriate? But then, there's the burden of proof .... In general I haven't had a problem with fundraisers, but I agree it is a gard call to make.

Ah yes, the cruise. If that was a fundraiser, I couldn't dig that aspect out of the post or links with a backhoe. I think the commercial sponsirs sealed the deal for me. Bounced it pretty quick and never heard back from the poster.

I reported the first one here. Only after seeing the post repeated spam style across the board did I reply to the actual post.

Yes Smash, while cross posting isn't against any written rule, it is viewed as very bad form to "spam" the same message all over a board.

However selling things here (other than the special case of the ticket sales area) if forbidden. Period.

"I'm selling X for $Y dollars. Contact me to make transaction."
Commerce pure and simple. Matter of fact, that was also internet wagering/gambling, which is illegal when based on US soil (thus why all the onlike poker sites are off-shore ). Nothing against your fundrasier, just keep it out of here please.

I was not aware of this other fundraiser (Milehigh). If I had seen it, I would of reported it too.

Slippy slope indeed Badger... *nods*

Smash, you are right on one point. I was needlessly rude to you and you didn't deserve that. Please accept my apology.